Milan brush aside Genoa

Inter Milan began their Serie A title defence with a 1-1 home draw with Udinese on Sunday after an Ivan Cordoba own goal in injury time, while AC Milan won 3-0 at promoted Genoa helped by Kaka’s brace.

Inter took an early lead through midfielder Dejan Stankovic after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s clever pass but goalkeeper Julio Cesar was sent off for handball outside the box on 57 minutes and the champions were unable to hold out.

Milan taught Genoa a lesson on their return to the top flight after a 12-year absence with Massimo Ambrosini’s powerful header and Kaka’s cool finish and penalty giving the European champions an easy victory.

Fiorentina had an equally comfortable 3-1 home win over Tuscan rivals Empoli to show they could still be a force this term despite striker Luca Toni leaving for Bayern Munich.